Taiwan Celebrates: Teachers' Day to Become a National Holiday!

A significant victory for the people as Taiwan's Parliament approves Teachers' Day as a public holiday.

In a landmark decision, Taiwan's Parliament has agreed to the "restore holidays to the people" initiative. Following cross-party negotiations, the focus of the afternoon's agenda centered on the amendment of the "Regulations Governing the Implementation of Memorial Days and Festivals."

The initiative, spearheaded by the KMT (Kuomintang) party, was met with cheers and applause in the chamber. Niu Hsiu-ting, convener of the Internal Affairs Committee, emphasized the urgency of rectifying the situation, stating that the holiday had been "withheld" for eight years. Despite potential minor administrative costs, the opposition parties reached a consensus to implement the law immediately upon presidential promulgation.

As part of the agreed-upon "4+1 version" within the KMT framework, the following days will be observed as national holidays: September 28th (Confucius' Birthday – Teachers' Day), October 25th (Taiwan Retrocession Day and Kinmen's Battle of Kuningtou Anniversary), December 25th (Constitution Memorial Day), the Little New Year's Eve, and May 1st (Labor Day). If the bill passes, Teachers' Day will be the first new holiday to be celebrated.